SWABI: Various French universities have agreed to collaborate in different disciplines with the Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology.

In this regard, a 12-member French delegation led by Matthieu Gaulon, attaché for science and technology in the cultural and cooperation department of the French Embassy in Islamabad, along with Higher Education Commission officials held a meeting with a team of the GIK Institute here on Friday.

The GIK Institute was represented by Rector Jehangir Bashar, Dr Javed A Chattha, Pro-Rector (academic), Ahsan Basir Sheikh, Pro-Rector (admin and finance) and deans of various faculties.

The French delegation comprised members of various universities of the country.

The visit was aimed to explore opportunities for collaboration in different disciplines of engineering education.

On the occasion, Rector Jehangir Bashar said French and GIK Institute collaboration dated back to 1993. So far, five French professors have taught at GIK Institute at different periods, making a tremendous contribution to GIK, he added.

He said the GIK Institute was the only university in Pakistan which was fully residential and all the required facilities to students and faculty were available inside the campus.

He said the institute had inked a number of agreements with different foreign universities. We also want fruitful collaboration with the French universities. “We could have programmes of exchanging academia and students, launching joint research projects and funding,” he said.

Speaking at the meeting, Mr Gaulon said there were many possibilities and opportunities that would be explored by boosting collaboration with GIK Institute.

Mr Gaulon spoke about currently available mobility funds for researchers and split PhD scholarships for the students. He remarked that they wanted to revive the past collaboration between French Embassy and GIK Institute.

Christian Ghiaus, another member of the delegation, said the French government gave scholarships to about 150 students from the Asian countries each year. The GIK Institute students could also study in French universities under this programme, he said.

Sabine Vermillard, another French delegate, said the visit was fruitful and that there were many areas where the GIK Institute and French universities could enter into a fruitful collaboration, joint interactions and research projects.

The French and HEC officials interacted with the students and told them about various funding options available to pursue higher studies in France.

The delegation also visited laboratories in different faculties and exchanged views with deans.

Mr Gaulon earlier visited the GIK Institute on Feb 14 and expressed his desire to further enhance cooperation with GIK Institute.

Published in Dawn, March 18th, 2017